Need Help with Kitchen Layout!
Hi! We are renovating our first floor (kitchen, flooring, moving laundry upstairs, etc.), and are stuck on which kitchen layout we should pick, and would love some advice. Our designer draws on paper, so I made the drawings 3-D - please just look at layout and not design (I am no professional, drawers/etc are not as they will be). We will be getting custom cabinetry, so either option can be done.
Option 1: We keep the garage entry where it is today. This will allow us to have a mudroom upon entry, but it will be a longer walk into the house, and we give up a walk-in pantry. This will give us a small "butler pantry" area going into the dining room. We can also put built-ins in the dining room.
Option 2: Move the garage door to the center of the main floor, but have no mudroom area as we will enter into the kitchen. We will have a walk-in pantry. There will be a bench where the "butler pantry" area is in the first option, and will have storage in the garage before entering the house.
Notes:
- We cannot move the wall where the butler pantry/bench is, as it is holding the entire house up.
- Oven is in center of island.
- The island will have seating (I just didn't know how to draw it, but it is the full size).
- Here are the walkway dimensions (some are updated from the drawing):
From pantry/mudroom into kitchen: 51"
Behind island and wall: 51"
Between refrigerator & island: 42"
Between sink & island: 42"
Walkway between dining room and kitchen: 48"
- The glowing green door in the back of the kitchen leads to an office (no idea how to fix that in the rendering lol) and the family room is on the other side.
- Next to the fridge, there is HVAC that we can't move, so there isn't an option for a corner cabinet.
Current layout has laundry room upon garage entry, and a walk in pantry where the moved garage door is.
Walkway from garage hall is only 28", the sink to island is 43", and the island to the fridge is only 31". Island is 60" long, and 34' wide.
Questions:
Which option do you think is better?
We're really torn on the location of the cooktop, but can't figure out another place for it to go. It is 36'', and are moving it out of the island where it is currently. We'd really like the island to be open for seating, and have young kids so it's a safety issue.
Any other ideas of layouts before we commit?
Thank you for your help!
Here is the paper drawing, which is only done for Option 2 - our designer hasn't drawn out having the pantries against the wall yet - just verbalized it. We are going with a square island so all seats have comfortable leg room, and we gain a few extra inches behind the island.
Opt. 1
Opt 1
Opt 2
Opt 2
Comments (15)
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Comments (7)Hi Katrina, To your first question regarding moving wall cabs up and down: Select the cabinet to be raised or lowered. Go into 3D view. Get a close up view of the cab. To the right (maybe sometimes to the left, I'm not quite sure) of the cab you'll see an up/down arrow. click up or down to move the cab until it's at the desired height. Planner tips: If your software is lagging, it helps to give it some time after every click before continuing. When you select a cab, wait before continuing until the cursor stops spinning. All that will prevent it from getting overwhelmed. Make sure that all extensions in your browser are disabled. That seems to help. Keep saving often. I mean it: really often. Ikea updated the software about 2 weeks ago. Since then the planner works much better on my Mac Ibook using Firefox. I haven't tried to run the planner with Chrome or Safari since the update. I'm sure some layout experts will eventually chime in with design help. Good luck!...See MoreNeed help with kitchen layout redesign
Comments (6)sitting room already has doors from foyer...so that would be a space to keep walled off or segregated from the open parts. You have the left wall of property from kitchen through to dining room w no obstructions such as window or door [unless they've been left off the sketch]. you could think about placement on long wall and then an island. And a table "area" within the open space ..rather than a walled off dining room. Nice possibilities for an open plan.if thats what you want. Must decide how many seating spots for eating such as table only...table w peninsula or table w island...etc. You mention galley....so is an overhang on a side not important, whether peninsula or island??? Do you think there is a shortage of windows on this structure..or what can you say about light and views..that sort of thing.....kitchen renovation is a chance to improve the home also in the adjacent spaces in particular. ....See MoreNeed help with kitchen layout, please!
Comments (6)I'll just add this - as someone with a "view house" and a complete wall of windows in my kitchen, I explored the option of placing a range in front of a window pretty extensively. Pros will chime in with their perspectives, but what I found was that it *can* be done technically, but it will be costly to do correctly and to code in most cases (I almost had a heart attack when I received the quote for the new window, not to mention the in-ceiling ventilation option - and I'm not exactly a penny pincher). In the end, it felt like a bit of a waste - when I'm working at the stove, I'm generally looking at the stove vs. above the stove, so I'm not sure it would've added value. In short, unless you have an insanely good reason for doing it, and pretty deep pockets, I'd aim for a design that avoids placing the range in front of the window. @mama goose_gw zn6OH 's layout is a huge improvement!...See MoreNeed help with kitchen layout and fridge placement
Comments (2)I wouldn't move the refrigerator any further away. You already have pretty good counter space. Are the two large sinks a must have for you? If you do decide to move the frig, in my experience 42" is an adequate walkway dimension. Are you going to routinely have six people at the table? The dimension that looks tight to me is from the head of the table chair to the wall, but I can't tell how much space there actually is between the edge of the table and the wall. Because it's a traffic pattern make sure there will be enough room for someone to get by when someone else is seated there....See More
Verbo
2 years ago
Jessica Turakhia
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoartistsharonva
2 years agoAlso check fridge door swing, that there's enough room to open the door fully with handle to avoid the fridge handle hitting cabinets on the other wall.
This may or may not be ok. Depends on the fridge specs
jaja06
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoanj_p
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoJessica Turakhia
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoHi @anj_p, here is a picture of the kitchen currently. The builder plan is the reverse layout, which is why the it's opposite from the designers. You walk in from the garage and into three doorways - all less than 3 feet apart. In the current layout, there is a pantry in the "storage" area of the plan. Since there is only 30" between the countertop and island, there is no seating there. The range against the small L would only have space for 28", as it's pretty short.
Just want to make sure the constraints are listed clearly. It's an awkward layout with the HVAC and wall not being able to be moved.
Would you still keep the same layout understanding the small walkways? Would like an honest answer, not trying to change your mind.
Behind the microwave is this laundry room, which we plan to move upstairs.
Sammie J
2 years agoanj_p
2 years ago
rebunky
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoI flipped the existing drawing to match the designers’ drawing. So is this correctly showing the proposed changes compared to the existing home?
Existing:
Option 2: “Move the garage door to the center of the main floor, but have no mudroom area as we will enter into the kitchen. We will have a walk-in pantry. There will be a bench where the "butler pantry" area is in the first option, and will have storage in the garage before entering the house.”
Option 1: “We keep the garage entry where it is today. This will allow us to have a mudroom upon entry, but it will be a longer walk into the house, and we give up a walk-in pantry. This will give us a small "butler pantry" area going into the dining room. We can also put built-ins in the dining room.”
I am sorry to say, and this is putting it mildly, but your “designer” is really awful at kitchen design. Is this your architect? If these are their best options for you, I would be very worried too! As you said, this will be an expensive project. Unfortunately, I think you are looking at two expensive kitchen nightmares.Did you get a chance to read some of the ”New to kitchens read me first” link? If you post the dimensions of your existing layout (like your original plan but with the dimensions labeled on the walls, windows, and stuff that has to stay) you will get more help. I think you have great potential, but I am afraid you will need to find a better designer who is actually a certified kitchen designer. I think even the non-professionals here on this forum could do better job..
Jessica Turakhia
2 years agoanj_p
2 years agorebunky
2 years agolast modified: 2 years agoOh great, I will check out your other thread and hopefully some pros will chime in to help!
I agree with anj_p. Maybe your designer is wonderful at designing for form, colors and materials. But designing a kitchen for function? Maybe not so much? I am sure she is very nice, and I don’t mean to bash her. Your space is not that easy to work with. It is just that I see so many things off with her design and I see no reason you should spend over 6 figures on a poor layout.
The new to kitchens read me thread is awesome and has everything you need to know to plan a well designed kitchen. I think every designer should read it! The recommended kitchen rules from the NKBA sometimes need to be broken due to a limited budget or being unable to change interior walls, windows, plumbing, etc. But you don’t really have that problem, besides that one wall holding up the beam.
I know I am not a professional on kitchen design, but I am just someone who has learned by reading for years all the information provided by the pros on this forum. I also have had firsthand knowledge living with several horribly designed kitchens that drove me crazy. I thought I hated cooking. Now that I have a nicely designed kitchen (thanks to reading and applying everything I could from this forum), I love it!
I hope you don’t mind, I made some observations on option 2. These are things that I caught my eye and some go against the basic kitchen design quidelines.
artistsharonva